National Museum
The National
Museum of Phnom Penh is instantly recognizable, with its warm red terracotta
and its gracefully curved roof topped by dozens of guardians nagas. Located
just north of the Royal Palace, off the street of Artists (178 Street), it was
designed in 1917 by famed French architect George Grolier and the Ecole des
Arts Cambodians, who made the most of traditional Khmer style. It was
inaugurated by King Sisowath in 1920.
Worth visiting
for its beauty alone, the National Museum also houses the world's foremost
collection of ancient Khmer archaeological, religious and artistic artifacts.
The Angkor era is the museum's specialty, but it also features other important
periods such as the Funan and Zhenla, the two empires most closely seen as
precursors to Angkor. More than 5, 000 objects dating from the 4th to the 13th
centuries are on display. And these are only the tip of the iceberg. Lack of
funding and special restraints have meant the museum's vaults remain full of
thousands more objects, many of them priceless.
The museum is
open daily from 8 am to 11:30 am and from 2:30 pm to 5 pm. French and English
spoken guides are available, or visitors can purchase one of the books or
pamphlets available and wander the four courtyards, each facing out into a
garden, and try to piece together the complex history through these magnificent
works of ancient art themselves.
Among the most memorable of these is an eight-armed statue of Vishnu dating from the 6th century, but even the smaller, less imposing pieces gives a unique insight in to the skills of the craftspeople that had inhabited this area through the centuries.